Four Corners of Civilization

Lankhmar

Lankhmar is richly described as a populous, labyrinthine city rife with corruption; it is decadent and squalid in roughly equal parts and said to be so shrouded by smog that the stars are rarely sighted (the city’s alternate name is “The City of Sevenscore Thousand Smokes”). Located next to The Reft, Lankhmar is visited by ships from across the Four Corners.

The city is ostensibly ruled by an Overlord and a nobility. The Thieves’ Guild is influential, too, and controls Lankhmar’s abundant criminal element.

Streets in Lankhmar are often evocatively named (the Thieves’ Guild is located on Cheap Street near Death’s Alley and Murder Alley). Commonly referenced locations are the Silver Eel Tavern, behind which is Bone Alley, and the Golden Lamprey. The religious center of Lankhmar is the Street of the Gods, along which numerous (and often bizarre) cults seek to arrange themselves in order of popularity. The true gods of Lankhmar, however, are feared rather than worshipped; these “Black Bones” (mummified ancestors of the Lankhmarese) occasionally leave their temple to fight threats to the city—or threats to their own position as preeminent religion within the city.